Being Bozeman: A coach's first year on the job, in photos

March 12, 2009 · Photographs by Nick Gingold

In his first season as head coach of the women's basketball team, 42-year-old Mike Bozeman inherited a team in transition.

Unlike most coaches, who serve as head coaches at smaller programs before moving on to more successful ones, Bozeman had only been in the college game for three years, all at GW. And though he had run one of the best high school programs in the country before that, inheriting a team that had gone to the Sweet 16 two years in a row under predecessor Joe McKeown was no small task.

Having a roster of six freshmen to replace the experience of Kim Beck, Whitney Allen and Sarah Jo Lawrence would not help matters, nor would one of the country's most difficult out-of-conference schedules.

During the season, Bozeman's team played well against mediocre and average teams, but faltered against upper-level ones, a problem McKeown had during his tenure.

Senior center Jessica Adair carried the team to a 17-13 record and No. 5 seed in last week's Atlantic 10 tournament,

but the Colonials were upset by a 9-20 Rhode Island team in the first round, marking the first time GW didn't make the second round in 23 years.

After the loss, the usually confident, if not cocky, Bozeman expressed frustration with how the season ended.

"I'm pretty much at a loss for words in description of my team's performance," Bozeman said. "I'm a little frustrated at my inability to get them to maximize the potential of this team."–Andrew Alberg